Huzzah! The Nintendo Switch 2 is upon us, eight years on from the 150+ million selling Nintendo Switch.
We’ve had it for over a week now and can confirm it’s excellent—a total delight. If you have a Switch or not, this is the one to aim for as the improvements in hardware are vast and it’s an incredible way to enjoy your gaming escapism time.
Join us on a tour of Nintendo’s latest device, plus with a nod to some of the toxic gamer rage regarding the console, finished off with a look at the available games.
A New Era of Excellence With the Nintendo Switch 2
Back in early 2017, Nintendo was taking a new direction with its hardware as the underrated Wii U had been a dismal failure. It shifted just over 13 million units, a disaster as it followed on from the 100+ million unit selling Wii.
The Switch turned that around instantly with its accessibility and portability.
You can take it with you everywhere, but it can also be docked into the TV, with detachable controllers allowing for gaming anywhere type stuff. This is the concept Switch 2 continues with, just ramped up in every department.
Nintendo has a reputation for innovating with its hardware in ways that Sony and Microsoft haven’t. This continuation with the Swich formula has irked some gamers who see it as Nintendo playing it safe. As we cover further below, the backlash against the console has been considerable in a sect of the gaming community.
However, once you get your hands on the Switch 2 it’s immediately obvious this is no lazy cash in. You get:
- A much more powerful system
- Vastly improved memory bank
- The glorious bigger screen
- Controllers are much-improved
- An incredibly satisfying magnet system for detaching the controllers
- The controllers can be used as mice
- Backward compatibility with 99% of Switch games
- Upgraded game performance on various Switch classics (this is a free upgrade if you already have the games)
- Improve overall performance
- An overhauled eShop experience
- Game card swapping features for game “rentals” between players
As lifelong Nintendo fans, part of us was a bit disappointed it wasn’t trying something radical for its next console. But the Switch concept is so perfect, something we’ve become so used to and take for granted since 2017, it would’ve been a shame for Nintendo to abandon the concept.
The Switch 2 proves there’s still plenty of life left in this accessible, flexible, forward-thinking, versatile, enormously enjoyable way of playing games.
Ultimately, the main upgrade with the Switch 2 are its specs. The system is much more powerful, has a lot more memory for game storage, and resolves some of the more finicky aspects of the Switch.
As much as we love the Switch, its controllers felt relatively low-quality, the stand on its back was rubbish, and the system is now eight years old and lacking in power.
Many gamers have complained over the years Nintendo doesn’t get involved in the “spec wars” that Sony and Microsoft concern themselves with, but to some extent this is Nintendo launching into that. The upgrades to Zelda’s classic Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, for example, are fantastic and the best way to play those games.
And in the system everything is sleeker and more accessible. For example, the eShop (a pain to use on the Switch) is improved 100 times over for instant game purchases.
Plus, if you rummage around in the system features you find nifty little things like a magnifying glass—double tap the home button and you can zoom in on in-game features and enjoy the art and finer details.
So, yes, not a radical overhaul from Nintendo.
But once you get your hands on the Switch 2, as people who’ve been playing the Switch since March 2017 can attest, the upgrade is just phenomenal. It’s instantly returned us to playing in handheld mode (the system undock from the TV) as it’s such a glorious upgrade over the original.
And we do mean once you get your hands on it—it’s a sleek, high-quality system that’s amazing to hold and those beautiful games look, and sound, fantastic. The handheld mode is a joy and with the wealth of amazing games available, and on the way, this is well worth your consideration.
Mario Kart World as the Killer Launch Title
Our Mario Kart World review is coming up next weekend, but this is the big blockbuster killer launch title for the system.
The first proper new Mario Kart since Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U (2014). The Switch got a Deluxe edition in 2017, which for our money has been the definitive Mario Kart experience ever since. The best entry in the series and an enormously popular one, with sales at almost 70 million—that makes it the fourth most successful game of all time.
However, there was gamer consternation about the price of MK World. At £74 ($80), it’s responsible for the astonishing online backlash against the system. This generally led to many demanding a boycott of the console and game.
To be clear, Nintendo offers the Switch 2 and Mario Kart World bundle. This is the one we got at £429.99, with the system costing £395. If you get the bundle you get the game for £35.99.
With Nintendo you’re pretty much always guaranteed exceptional quality, so we have no issue with the price—the bundle cost is reasonable for us given the quality of the new console and its launch title.
Mario Kart World is fantastic, but we’ll get into that one more next week.
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour… and Other Launch Titles
There are 25 releases for the Switch 2 launch, with another killer title being a port of AAA blockbuster romp Cyberpunk 2077. That’s meant to be amazing on the system, we’ll get to it eventually.
One title that’s piqued a lot of interest (and further outrage) is the curiosity that is the tech demo Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour.
This is Nintendo’s introduction to its new system. It charges £8 for the game, which has enraged gamers further following the whole MK World cost thing and Nintendo’s apparent laziness in launching the “same” games console again at £395.
Having played Welcome Tour (and it’s very good fun), we can see why Nintendo is charging for it. But it would’ve been the better move to bundle the game as a free launch game. It’s £8, though, and the 10 hours of gameplay we got from the experience we don’t have any major qualms about its cost.
Also included with the Switch 2 launch are classic Switch title upgrades. For example the wonderful Tears of the Kingdom (2023) and its predecessor have a performance overhaul. If you already own the games, that’s a free update.
Various other Switch classics have that free upgrade.
Other launch games include Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut, Deltarune Chapters 1,2,3, and 4, Survival Kids, Hitman World of Assassination Signature Edition, and Civilization VII.
In terms of the next big release for the system, that’s Nintendo’s Donkey Kong Bananza. That’s out in July and looks amazing fun, plus it’s at the price of £65 that’s a bit more normal for AAA releases. But we should imagine will still cause the apocalpye regardless.
The Nintendo Switch 2 Gamer Meltdown (and how to just enjoy the console)
We’ve never seen such a bizarre, hyperbolic, apoplectic overreaction of negativity to a games console before. A chunk of the gaming community has been driven into an rage about the system, with some labelling it a “scam” and calling on gamers to boycott the system.
It’s been remarkably silly and frequently baffling to see unfold. The main issues have been the:
- Price of Mario Kart World
- Nature of the new system
This is the first time Nintendo hasn’t created a totally new hardware concept for a console launch, normally innovating in one way or another. The Switch 2 is, instead, a massive upgrade—everything is just much better. It’s £395 for that, with the original Switch launching at £300 eight years ago.
The £74 ($8) price tag for Mario Kart World is what’s done the damage. This has led to a lot of instantly negative reviews for the game and clickbait protest reviews from YouTubers, rather than properly judging the system and its merits.
It’s been tedious watching that unfold, so we’ve taken a step back, just enjoyed playing the system, and relied on reputable gaming publications for feedback.
But for context, compare this with Nintendo’s two main competitors.
Sony has throughout its 30+ year console making career released essentially the same system (called the PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, PS5 etc.) with souped up specs. The PS5 was £400 on launch. They also released a PS4 Pro in 2016 with improved specs at £350. Microsoft does the same thing with the Xbox. There’s never been a meltdown about any of that.
There was even a PS5 remaster of Last of Us that was $70 on launch. No outrage.
We don’t have any issue with that, incidentally, it’s just the way Sony wants to approach its game systems and it’s been enormously popular. But where’s the disconnect? If the PS6 is announced at £700 and with £80 games, you can guarantee the reaction wouldn’t be the same.
This Switch 2 debacle has highlighted a tacit anti-Nintendo bias we remember from the Wii U days, one born from a sense of elitism over what “proper” gaming is. Just a reminder, this pastime is all about having fun, not proving your superiority over other human beings via whatever console you prefer.
Anyway, amongst all the clickbait and hyperbole it’s important to stress this is a fantastic bit of kit. One with something for everyone and we’re already in love with the thing.
Don’t let the backlash from a small sect of the gaming community put you off. Nintendo has delivered a gem here and it’s a joy of a console to experience.
This is the End… Switch 2’s Launch Stats
On a final note, Nintendo announced the Switch 2 sold over three million units within four days of launch.
This makes it the most successful games console launch in history by a considerable margin (previously being the PS4, which sold one million units in November 2013).
Clearly, the love for Nintendo is there from people who just want to get at the new console and the developer’s amazing AAA exclusives. We suggest you do the same! Much fun to be had.
